Shogi
by CalicoKitty17
Summary: Shikamaru has been acting funny for a while, and when Shikaku meets his 'best friend' who no one has even heard of, it's a new puzzle for him to solve. Of course, countless secrets, dead bodies, surprises, and classified files later, he might just change his mind.
1. Chapter 1

It was late at night, the full moon settled high in the sky, like a lantern suspended in the air, defying gravity and illuminating the tops of the taller buildings, but still unable to reach down into the crevices, to touch the ground of the village was out of its reach. It was an unobtainable accomplishment, a tale as old as time, witnessed by an expanse of stars and everyone who walked beneath it.

Deep within the confines of a compound in the northeast corner of Konohagakure, two figures sat at a kitchen table, the overhead light casting a dim glow on their solemn faces. They each cupped a glass; one of tea and one of coffee, but both having long since gone cold.

They sat there through the night, silent and unmoving, even as the sun began to rise, dying the dark sky with a beautiful orange tint. The birds woke up, chirping their cheery songs, and shadows receded from the buildings, chased away by the dawning light, like a shade being lifted from a window.

It was then, as the final star vanished overcome by an awash of sunlight, that the front door clicked open, and the couple at the table sat up a little straighter and angled themselves toward the opening where the visitor would pass. It led out into the hallway that connected to the entrance and no one could enter the house without coming into view of the dining room.

Then there were footsteps, a pair of them, light and unhurried, and the couple exchanged a bemused look.

_Who else is here?_

Their question was answered not a minute later as two teenagers appeared, a girl and a boy, both smiling, and they paused, seeing the duo seated, watching them. The boy, the one they recognized, with an average appearance; brown hair bound in a spiky ponytail, charcoal eyes, and a sterling silver stud in each earlobe. He was dressed like a civilian; his green top unbuttoned, his collar popped, and black pants, which was unusual.

Shikaku stood slowly, surveying his son's friend critically. She was maybe a year younger, at fifteen, with a mane of unruly blond curls pulled in a sloppy ponytail. It was unlikely she had any kind of outside job with how well-groomed she was, and she definitely wasn't a shinobi; he knew all of them.

She wore laced boots with shorts and an oversized sweater that worked in concert to give her a messy look.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"We," Shikaku said, motioning to his wife, Yoshino, who was standing a few steps behind him, her arms crossed. "Have been waiting for you to show up for nine hours. You told us you would be home for dinner. Where have you been?" The whole time he was talking, he kept his eyes trained on the unfamiliar civilian.

"Sorry, you shouldn't have waited up." Shikamaru replied slowly. "Kai had the day off so we decided to hang out. I didn't know you would be worried."

"You didn't know we would be worried?" Yoshino repeated. "We are your parents, of course we were worried! When you say you will be home for dinner, we expect you to be home! Instead you're out with some girl!"

"I'm sorry," Kai said, interlocking her fingers behind her back in a nervous gesture. "I begged Shikamaru to have a game of shogi with me; I didn't know it would be a problem."

Yoshino blanched. "Shogi? That's what you've been doing for all this time?" Her tone was incredulous, but by the expression on Shikaku's face, he seemed to have come to an epiphany of sorts.

"That's what you're always doing isn't it?" He asked, unnervingly sharp onyx eyes scrutinizing them with all the intensity of a predator eyeing its prey. "That's why you've been coming home late and leaving early, but no one ever seems to know where you go or where you've been. You were with her." He motioned to Kai.

Shikamaru shrugged carelessly. "Ah, sorry? I thought everyone was okay with it."

"Okay with it?" Yoshino repeated, critically. "Okay with it!? You're off playing around with some girl we've never met _all night _and _miss dinner _and you expect us to be _okay with it!?_"

Their son stiffened, his eyes gleaming with a sudden spark of emotion that he hadn't seen before, something dangerous. "Kai is not some girl," he growled. "She is my best friend and she has been for three years. I expected you, as my parents, to respect her and respect me enough to know that I would never be so irresponsible as to engage in illicit activities without proper preparation." Shikamaru was practically forcing the words out through clenched teeth, but their was still a trace of his fiery genius in the undertone. "I am also a shinobi, a Chuunin, which means that despite our familial connection, you do not have authority over the personal aspects of my life and you do not have the right to _insult my friends. _If I did-"

"Shika." Kai interrupted the tirade with a quiet warning and Shikaku observed keenly as his son let out a slow breath of air, reigning in his temper.

Then Shikamaru abruptly turned around. "Kai and I are going out. If you have the grounds, file a formal complaint on my _exploits _at the Hokage's Office." And he briskly walked away, not even looking back once, too caught up in the rage simmering in his chest.

Kai bowed to them quickly. "I apologize, I didn't mean for this to happen, I didn't know...um, I have to go. It was nice meeting you." She hurried after her friend, careful to shut the door behind her.

They left two stunned parents standing in the hall. Shikamaru had been so estranged lately, it may have caused them to overreact, but they hadn't expected such a fierce retort from their laidback son. Kai clearly meant a lot to him, yet they had never been introduced? She had never even been mentioned to them.

Shikaku's eyes shone, almost identically to Shikamaru's mere moments before. There was a mystery behind this and if there was nothing he liked more it was a nap, or an interesting puzzle. With his son involved, it would be intriguing, no doubt.

He looked forward to the challenge.

…...

"I'm sorry." Shikamaru said, the first words spoken between the duo in the past four hours.

They had wasted the rest of the early morning cloud-watching on top of the Academy roof, silent and contemplative.

Kai hummed thoughtfully. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"They were completely out of line." It was a weak argument, and they both knew it.

"I wasn't offended and I really wish you weren't so harsh with your parents." A hundred subtle tells in her tone reminded Shikamaru of Kai's own predicament and he sighed.

"I know. I'm sorry. Again. I'll go home early tonight and say sorry to them too. Is that good enough for you?"

She smiled. "You have to tell them you love them."

"Fine." He groused, with no real annoyance in his voice. "I'm going to have to meet my team in a few minutes."

"I suppose you're wondering what I'll do?" Kai asked.

His silence said enough.

"Well," she said carefully. "I have some business I need to attend to, but it'll only take a day, two at most."

"Danger?"

"Minimal."

"Will you be back after those two days?"

"Most probably."

"My dad will figure it out."

"Eventually."

"He's loyal to the village."

"Are you implying you're not?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I mean, he doesn't know you as well as I do and will be more inclined to take immediate action."

"Then he'll just have to get to know me."

Shikamaru sat up, scrutinizing her face carefully, but her dark eyes revealed nothing of her thoughts, meeting his gaze evenly. "You're willing to get to know him? And my other friends?"

"Why not? It's been three years, I think we both trust each other enough, unless there's an underlying issue I'm unaware of..."

He shook his head, flopping back down. "No." He said, smiling slightly. "Not at all."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The past few days in the Nara household were quite tense. There was no mention of Kai, in fact, there was hardly any conversation at all. After Shikamaru came home and apologized, rather stiffly, he paused, with words on the tip of his tongue, before he turned and walked upstairs to his room, and he hadn't talked since.

He was either out in the village or locked in his room, coming down only to eat a tense supper, do his chores, and leave again. It meant Yoshino had been on edge lately, and even worse, Shikaku hadn't gotten even a hint as to what was going on between his son and the civilian.

A week later it happened. They were all sitting at the table, alternating between picking at their food and staring at Shikamaru, hoping he would crack when the door banged open.

"Shikamaru!"

The Chuunin's eyes widened, recognizing the voice, and he turned around sharply, just as Kai appeared in the dining room entrance. Her dark eyes were wild, almost desperate, and she lunged forward to catch the half-standing shinobi in a hug. He nearly fell over, but used one hand to catch himself on the table.

Only he noticed the slight tremor of her body and the way she composed herself automatically after reassuring herself that he was there and realizing his parents were present too.

She changed her tone to one of elation and put on a smile, swallowing her tears. "I did it! I finally made it!" She pulled back, grinning madly. "I finally got it!"

"Really? That's great!" Shikamaru clamped down firmly on his worry, knowing that he would have a chance to ask her later.

Kai pretended to just notice his mom and dad, staring at them, and she inwardly winced at the calculative gleam in Shikaku's eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt." She blushed, turning her gaze to the floor.

There was a brief pause.

"It's fine." Yoshino lied, setting down her fork with a distinctive clink. "Actually, I'd like to get to know you better, if you don't mind." Get to know the girl who has taken my son from me, was unsaid, but obvious in the tightness of her jaw.

"Oh-oh. Okay. Um..." Kai glanced to Shikamaru for help.

"Have you had supper?" Shikamaru asked.

She shook her head.

"Then I'll make you a plate." He pulled out the chair next to his, and waited for her to take a seat before going to the kitchen.

Kai sat awkwardly, looking at everything except for the two adults.

Shikaku was fine with the quiet, intent on studying the girl and maybe find out what made Shikamaru like her so much, when he usually avoided talking to civilians. Her hands were folded in her lap and she sat straight, so she had been raised in a formal family. They had probably disliked her due to her shyness, a situation that reminded him vaguely of the Hyuuga heiress.

Today, her hair was loose, bursting around her face and making her body look even smaller in comparison. She wore a gold pleated skirt with a braided leather belt, a red kimono top that showed her bellybutton, and geta.

It gave her a more freestyle look, rather than one of a proper family, meaning she had likely been disowned. Shikaku didn't think she would have had the nerve to leave all on her own. Her choice of attire was probably more about symbolism rather than because she actually liked to dress like that.

"So," Yoshino said. "How did you meet Shikamaru?"

"I met him during the invasion." She responded, fiddling with her fingers.

Shikaku frowned. She was talking about the invasion that had occurred three years ago. When two villages, Otogakure and Sunagakure formed an alliance and attacked Konohagakure, breaking the tradition of peace during the Exams for the first time. It had been orchestrated by the Hokage's traitorous student, Orochimaru, who had also murdered Suna'sKazekage and pretended to be their leader.

It was a huge mess that ended with a lot of lives taken and even more damage inflicted. The morale and the landscape had been at an all time low for awhile afterwards, especially with the loss of their Hokage.

Many of the children, Genin only months out of the Academy, had never even seen battle before and to suddenly be introduced to it by a basic free-for-all royale was difficult.

They had coped fairly well, however, dealing with the emotional and physical wounds better than the hardened ninja's had thought. It just went to show how promising this generation of shinobi was going to be.

But to make a friend along all of that death and destruction and chaos?

His confusion must have been obvious in his eyes, because Kai laughed, just as Shikamaru walked in, holding a plate heaped with food.

"What's going on?" He wondered, sauntering over to place Kai's plate down and take his seat.

"Your father was asking how we first met." Kai responded, smiling.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Do we have to tell that story?"

"Yes! Come on," she wheedled. "Please?"

He made a face. "Fine, but I'm going to tell it. You have a tendency of exaggerating."

"Meanie." Kai muttered, taking a sullen bite of the chicken casserole.

Shikamaru ignored her. "Okay, we met during the invasion-"

"I already told them that." She interrupted.

"Well, I'm starting from the beginning." Kai stuck her tongue out childishly and Shikamaru sent a pointed glance to her plate.

Kai clicked her tongue, but said nothing in response and Shikaku understood a little bit more.

Kai was skinny, very much so, but her hair and the way she dressed disguised it, making people either overlook it or assume that it's normal. She was good with clothes, using them to draw attention away and flatter herself to the point people didn't even notice it was actually unhealthy.

So she was anorexic.

Interesting.

"Anyway," Shikamaru continued. "We met during the invasion three years ago, when I was in the hospital."

FLASHBACK

Shikamaru hated chakra exhaustion. He despised it, LOATHED IT. It was the most common ailment for shinobi, the least dangerous, and it still warranted several days of observation in the hospital. When a shinobi was low on chakra, it made them more susceptible to genjutsu and disease, so it was required for them to spend a little less than a week in a doctor's care. Except ANBU. ANBU were usually released into the care of HQ personnel.

But Shikamaru wasn't an ANBU, therefore he had four days of mind-numbing boredom to look forward to. Typically, he would enjoy a village mandated vacation, but in this case, Konoha had just survived an invasion. His friends could be seriously hurt, or injured, and here he was, tied down to a bed with minor injuries!

His jaw clenched and he glared fiercely at the door.

Almost as if on cue, a girl burst into his room, startling him, and then she closed the door softly, her movements going from quick to slow in less than a second. She was still for a moment, peering out the window cautiously, before she pumped an arm and whispered, "Yes! Suckers."

"Uh...hi?"

She whirled around, eyes, now wide, landing on him. "O-oh." A fierce blush lit up her face and her gaze fell to the ground. "Sorry. I, uh, didn't know anybody was in here..."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Whatever. Why were you running?"

"Ugh!" The girl exclaimed, her attitude doing a complete one-eighty and her eyebrows creasing in frustration. "The stupid nurses won't let me go! I got a single, tiny, cut and now I'm their prisoner for life!"

"You were injured in the invasion?" As soon as the question left his mouth, he blamed it on the drugs. Why else would he ask something so stupidly obvious?

"No I just got a paper cut that sliced through my side." She said sarcastically, then she sighed, rubbing at her face. "Sorry, I'm not usually so short-tempered."

"It's fine. What happened?" Honestly, he didn't care, but he would take anything that would distract him from reality.

Was it his imagination or did the girl have a hint of understand in her eyes?

No, it must have been his imagination.

She was just a civilian.

Nobody important.

...It would be a simple thing for her to sneak around the halls. She would be inconspicuous and nobody would suspect her...it wouldn't be that hard to make her look like somebody else either...

"Hey," Shikamaru said slowly. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what kind of favor."

"My friends...can you check on them? I haven't been allowed to leave this room and everybody I know is either busy with cleanup or hospitalized themselves. The nurses are too busy to pass on their status reports, so I'm kinda in the dark. I'd really appreciate it."

Dark eyes scrutinized him curiously, assessing him, looking for...for something. Then they lightened and she smiled slyly. "Alright, but you'll owe me a favor in return."

"Like what?"

"I'll come up with something." She dismissed. "What's the names of your friends?"

He was silent for a moment, wary of her terms, before giving in. "Okay. They're Chouji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Naruto Uzumaki, Yoshino Nara...and...Shikaku Nara." It was probably unnecessary to add his father's name, he was the Jounin Commander, how often did he get injured, but it was the precaution of a paranoid son.

"Got it. Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Uzumaki, and Nara. I'll be back as soon as I know anything." With that, she swept out the door, leaving Shikamaru all alone again.


End file.
